AJ and Betley went after the shot and Darnell didn't look to body anyone. Couldn't have been easier. I sadly saw the replay of the final shot and as was noted before, to say Betley was open would be an understatement. I'm not sure how Darnell became our ball in his hands with the game on the line guy but that has to change next year.

That Betley dagger three was 3/4 of the way down. I'm still seeing it. Sigh. And as I explained to my son, the safety school chants from the hideous band, among others, are why we will ALWAYS hate Princeton. Go Bulldogs.

I was rooting for Penn, but the refs did not change the outcome. I might, however trade Mehta for Betley. That said, I think the Brown women may have a better shot at the top than the men under current Ivy policies.

I'd say that so far we have two impact freshmen. Brodeur and Betley clearly have all-conference potential. As for Goodman, I'm optimistic, but not yet sold. Hopefully, with a good offseason, he'll come back as a sophomore showing better judgement and control. If so, then we've got another keeper. Otherwise, point guard remains a weakness for this team.

But we're still in a much better place than a year ago. At that time, I didn't think we had any returning players who had all Ivy potential (although it turns out we actually did have one in Matt Howard). Now we have two, and probably have another one or two entering in the fall. We also have a head coach and staff who clearly know what they're doing. And the quality of recruits we're pursuing is impressive. So yes, I'm also optimistic about the direction of the program.

I really hope you're right. I don't think anybody played the point consistently well this season. Foreman and Goodman both had flashes of brilliance, C. Wood has his strengths and weaknesses. So we really need somebody to step up. I worry that after so much time away from D1 competition A. Woods will have lost his edge, but I'd love to be proven wrong about that. I also gather that Jelani Williams might be our point guard of the future.

Another thing I wonder about next season: will we get another Matt Howard story? Somebody who steps up his game and becomes an unexpected star? There are a lot of possibles: Wood, Woods, Matt MacDonald, Jackson Donahue, Ray Jerome, Sam Jones and Tyler Hamilton to name a few.

Goodman is the best defensive guard we have and his defense on Cannady allowed Donahue to put Darnell on Weiss which was a major reason we led most of the game in my opinion. Goodman is a D1 defensive player just need to add more to his game in the other end.

Edited by PennFan10 on 03-12-17 12:56 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

I think it's still a pretty big deal for the program. The place doesn't fill as often, but when it's rocking we seem to get our fair share of upsets or play over our heads.

As for the game, was pretty proud of them and the program. It takes a lot to get through the adversity of an 0-6 start and still make the season something positive.

And that's with big holes in the team still -- there's really no perimeter threat who can create at the end of the shot clock (would have loved to have seen Betley be a little more aggressive in the 2nd half in those situations -- but asking a lot of a frosh). The Darnell/Goodman forces are in part because they're stuck in situations beyond their abilities (to create) right now.

Maybe Jelani/Scott help with that (they've certainly given my DeMatha Stags a tough time over the last year or two, from what I've heard).

On the bright side, Goodman pushing the ball gets us some easy baskets for what feels like the first time in a long while. And AJ is a program-changer.

While I hope for the best, I also worry about how well Woods will be able to play after (essentially) two years of not playing against this level of competition. I think that this may be most evident early in the season as rust is a normal consequence of such a layoff. While I am hopeful for Jelani Williams as well, depending on the exact nature of his injury, it's often more than a year before an athlete can come back from an ACL tear and perform at his pre-injury level. With that said, I am hopeful that by the Ivy season, both of those guys can play at a high level because there are some REALLY GOOD point guards in the Ivies now (Aiken, Oni, Smith among them).

OTOH, I am greatly encouraged by the progress I saw this year - in the level of player we have and are going after, the heart of these guys and the recognition of how good defense propels an offense. Just SAD that I have to wait 8 months to see this team in action again.

I know I'm chiming in late here; since the game, I have been busy and unable to get to the board. It is somehow fitting (and this is not a knock directed at Matt; Penn obviously wouldn't have been close enough for a foul shot to get the lead at the end without him), but someone needs to figure out how to improve the foul shooting on this team. Ryan can obviously do it, but he is really the only dependable foul shooter on the team. Maybe get Rick Barry to teach them. I believe this was mentioned earlier in the season. While the missed bunnies throughout the game hurt, the foul shots that have been missed cost Penn at least a couple of games, including this one.

Edited by Penn7277 on 03-12-17 01:27 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

While some of Goodman's weaknesses were on display yesterday, we're simply a different team with him playing big minutes like that. He plays too fast at times, etc., but he also rebounds pretty well for a guard of his size and is active around the basket when he gets overly aggressive trying to get to the hoop. I've been happy with his development. My prediction (still) is that he'll start next year.

The related thing that struck me both yesterday and today is what a good job Princeton does of getting Cannady the ball in fouling situations. Nobody on either Penn or Yale seemed to be able to foul anyone else. maybe we can get there with Betley eventually.

My general observation of the event, though, is that I loved it. Hopefully, it grows into something more. Thought the atmosphere for Penn-Princeton was great. Do it when the students are around next time, and it will be awesome. I think the Palestra is the place to do it, too, but obviously I'm biased.

Going back to the game itself, i thought the most important and interesting part of the game was the 3.5 scoreless minutes when Penn led 47-45. Just an all-out defensive war once Princeton extended the defense and really put the clamps on. But you could feel that they just couldn't get over the hump, as Penn kept defending like crazy as well.

The one thing I thought Penn failed to recognize was that, with the pressure Princeton was putting on in the 2nd half, the open guys were actually in front of the guy with the ball. We got it to AJ some, but there were at least 3 mini pick and rolls wher AJ came off unguarded and Foreman or Goodman simply dribbled away without even looking at him. We seemed to be looking for safe perimeter passes that were no longer there. I thought Princeton established that they would pack the middle to deny AJ in the first half, and then depended on that perception in the 2nd half.

The other thing I came away thinking is that Myles Stephens is awesome. He was just too much for us in the end (and too much for Yale today). I know he was Mike James pick for POY this year, and I came away thinking there will be one in his future.